I have included an audio file of my poem The Late Teacher for your enjoyment. I’ll be reading again at South Country Fair and I am very much looking forward to it (after missing last year for very understandable reasons).

I’ve recently added a sidebar link to the The Potsy Clan , written by Mike Poettcker, about his family’s life in Montreal, where they moved a few years ago to plant a church (among other things). Generally, I see church planting and missionary work dubious, concerning, assuming, and often oppressive. But what Mike is doing in Montreal is different and I respect it. For what I know of him, he shares life with others and tells the good news by being real. He’s setting up a sort of house church, which you can read about. . . seems pretty cool.

Mike is one of the people who challenges the stereotypes of what it means to be Christian. As a former pastor of an Albertan church once I attended, Mike and I met on occasion to talk about spirituality, leadership, and other elements of being human. One of the first things he recommended to me when we started meeting was Douglas Coupland’s Life After God. He wasn’t critical of the book. He thought it would help challenge and direct some of my thoughts (which definitely needed some direction). That’s the sort of guy that he is.

Thanks to people like Mike, I know that many of the frustrating and horrific expressions of Christianity don’t comprehensively define the religion. Although I do not consider myself a Christian, I am not crippled by religious cynicism nor am I wary of Christian story (which continues to offer vitality and meaning to me). Instead, I am able pursue spirituality and living with god in my own integrity—through art, relationship, reflection/prayer, and personal expression. People like Mike remind me that the church (as an idea) and some churches have a place where I can share honestly about my story and myself and continue to find community.

I understand that many Christians attempt to be open and forward-thinking; some might object to my generalizations of the church. However, the church (particularly the evangelical church) continues to severely constitute people in inescapable dogmas and ideologies of judgment and self-assurance. I’ve met lots of Christians who try to escape the associated stereotypes but cannot. They try to be authentic people, but fail to be authentic; they try to love and accept others, but. They read and talk about being counter-cultural, but create and uphold cultures opposite to their values. All of this would be fine—I am not the paragon of love and virtue—if they could honestly present their failure and brokenness. I don’t often see that they do. I pray for them as they journey into being more full human beings. I hope they will pray for me. I think Mike does.

I enjoy listening to CBC’s Ideas. This week, there is a three part show on The Trouble With Tolerance, which seeks to discuss the limits of tolerance in Canada.

Questions associated with this topic include: Should we allow racial, ethnic, and/or religious profiling if, statistically, it is effective? How should Canadians engage cultures and religions that are oppressive to women or hateful to certain groups? Should we tolerate intolerant people? What are the limits to tolerance? To what extent is multiculturalism feasible (especially if a society seeks to hold democratic and liberal values)? Can values be freely chosen and/or should a nation impose values on a people? (I say yes.)

The question of how much we tolerate intolerance interests me greatly. I believe there are limits to tolerance. For example, more legislation is needed regarding how children are educated (we shouldn’t tolerate private schools that teach children to hate) and laws surrounding what expressions of religion are allowable for Canada (eg. religions promoting violent jihad or hatred of homosexuals or Jews). Of course, I have the same concerns of the “slippery slope” into a Big Brother type of government, however a just government can involve itself in the affairs of its citizens without becoming tyrannical. I think a just government is possible.

Returning to the radio program . . .
Sadly, the two out of three of the guests on CBC’s Ideas had little notion of the complexities surrounding the limits of tolerance. Instead, the debate was hijacked and became focused on tolerance in general. This prompted me to write Ideas a strongly worded email—which I seldom do.

Greetings,
As a frequent listener of CBC’s Ideas, I find your show personally and intellectually stimulating. However, the recent show, The Trouble With Tolerance, was below your regular caliber. While Michael Blake provided listeners with lucid argument, your selection of Genevieve Chornenki and Sunny Yi was unfortunate. I believe that this topic warrants much better attention, and I hope you will consider pursuing this discussion in the future. Neither Chorneki nor Yi displayed an ability to listen or respond to Blake’s arguments; the show tumbled into ad hominem arguments and anecdotes.
I hope you will more evenly weigh your debates in the future. I believe this format would be successful with other guests.
Many thanks,
Leif

Are there limits to tolerance? What are your thoughts?